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Friday, 27 September 2013

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

***SBRs 3rd Best Read for 2013***

Publication date:14th
August 2012
Published by: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

My synopsis:
Bernadette Fox is wife to Elgin Branch, a high-profile
computer genius working at Microsoft and mother to Bee, a smart and sensitive
15 year old girl.She is a former award-winning
architect and a genius herself.She does
however have a problem with people.They
make her anxious and she tries to avoid them at all costs. She even resorts to
wearing a scarf and sunglasses (which seems like a way to make a person more
conspicuous, especially in a city such as Seattle).Her
allusive behaviour alienates her from the other mothers at her daughter’s
school, and she relies on a virtual personal assistant, based in India, to
carry out any jobs that require interaction with others.

Bernadette goes missing two days before Christmas and her
daughter Bee is determined to discover where she has gone.Elgin is no help and so Bee does some
investigative work – accessing and reading email correspondence and notes belonging to
her mother in an attempt to piece together the
mystery.

It would seem the trouble started when Bee brought her
school report home and showed her parents that she achieved top grades in all
subjects (That's what happens when 2 geniuses procreate.).She reminded them that they
promised she could have what she wanted if she achieved this.She announces that she wants a family trip to
Antarctica.To her surprise her parents
both agree.Travelling to Antarctica
would mean interacting directly with people andBernadette is not sure how she will be able to do this but she delegates the job of
arranging the trip to her virtual PA.

My review:
The story-telling of this book is not like anything I have
come across before.Much of it is told
through the correspondence that Bernadette has with those close to her
(revealed when read by Bee).Each written communication is followed up with a story from
Bee about the events that occurred on the particular day of the correspondence,
thus filling in the gaps.There is also
a section that looks back into Bernadette’s past (before she and Elgin moved to Seattle).Collectively this gives the reader insight
into Bernadette’s character as well as clarification of the events leading to
her disappearance. It turns out she is
an extraordinary woman.

The uniqueness of this book had me engrossed from the start
and it became more and more interesting as it unravelled.I could not put it down and stayed up all night to finish it. At first I was not particularly sympathetic
towards this family of geniuses living a life of privilege.I was unimpressed with Bernadette’s use of a
PA from India to whom she pays a pittance.But as the story unfolds I came to realise that the virtual PA was a crutch for Bernadette to lean on and (besides her daughter) the closest thing to a confidante.I warmed to her as I read about the way
she was treated by the other mothers at Bee’s school, and also how torn she was
between not disappointing her daughter and facing her fear (which increases as the trip to
Antarctica approaches).

I can imagine that the portrayal of the mothers at Bee’s
school, and their dislike of Bernadette for her refusal to interact with them, to
be a perceptive one.It was clear that
their objection was not so much due to her unwillingness to participate, but because
not doing so meant her personal life was a door that remained closed to them. (By doing so she robbed them of a continuous source of
juicy gossip.) They became obsessed in their need to criticise and vilify her. [Incidentally, I had criticised JK Rowling in her novel The Casual Vacancy for her lack of subtlety in her portrayal of the small-minded gossips of Pagford. This novel shows how it should be done. For one thing, the characters are flawed but unlike those in The Casual Vacancy they have redeeming qualities]

Bernadette’s anxiety about dealing with people, if extreme,
is not entirely irrational.There are
examples of how her interactions with others prove disastrous and things spiral out of control to the point where her mental health is called into question. The root of her problem is
outlined in one of the letters she received from a former colleague and old friend. She is a creative
type whose creativity has been stifled over many years. The title Where'd you go... isn't just in the literal sense of Bernadette disappearing, it also poses the question what happened to the Bernadette she used to be before she moved to Seattle.

Clearly this is fiction but even so I must say I was surprised
by the mention of real life brands in this book (especially surrounding Microsoft). Not everything implied about brands,
products and real people portrays them in a particularly positive or flattering
light.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a witty, perceptive and clever portrayal of an absurd side of 21st century living. I enjoyed it so much it is one of my favourites (if not my favourite) for
2013.